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Show Plllillil : Illllllllllllllllllll lillliilillliiM pRIillllillllilllllM I ' SS-l-BMsi tiff!! MfM'-MWMM : I a - .; H 1 Contrary to anything you may have heard, this machine is not a mechanical preying j mantis nor does it attack people. Verl j Matthews, Garfield County Eztention Agent, : Garfield County Has Two Weather Stations What goes up must come down or so the saying goes. Garfield County can now give some credence cre-dence to this homily because of two new long-needed weather stations that are now operational in the county. The station that serves the west end of the county is located in farmer's field near the river Lane Road. In appearance it strongly resembles re-sembles an aluminum preying mantis. It stands on spindley-look-ing legs, but because of the construction con-struction techniques used, it actu- ally can withstand any weather. "The device is an extreme improvement im-provement in monitoring farmers' and ranchers' need," said Verl Matthews Utah State University Extension Agent assigned to this area. Prior to the installation of this equipment he said, "it was often weeks if not months before farmers could receive information germaine to their planting needs. Now the information is available almost on demand." f . Alfalfa producers have long I guessed, and many are very accurate y guessers, on when was the best time to plant, water, or cut their crops. Late information did them no good except as hindsight evalua-uon. evalua-uon. ) The new solar powered device is cost-free as far as fuel is concerned. It has. an anemometer to measure wind force and is quipped with a Hygrometer to measure humidity. It also has a ground probe with J sensing devices to signal moisture content. The station also measures solar radiation and precipitation. ief- Significant about the station is that a i ed wilh lhe GE0S Satellite 56 tr, ,mi-,es above the earth that r 3 set Pattem so 1031 the uuons have constant access. The rt 1S collected constantly and is en transmitted to the BAX com- where t UHtah ?tate University ere "e data is correlated and i fv i makes minor adjustments to this new computerized satelite-using weather station which is expected to be a great boon to farmers and ranchers in the area. made available to those who desire to use it. Matthews said that knowing how much water the farmers need, when they need it, and when to plant should prove very useful in growing good crops. |